Page:The West Indies, and Other Poems.djvu/148

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AU hail ! — The Sire of Song appears,

The Muse's eldest born ; The sky-lark in the dawn of years,

The poet of the morn.

He from the depth of cavern'd woods,

That echoed to his voice, Bade mountains, valleys, winds, and floods,

And earth and heaven rejoice.

Though charm'd to meekness while he sung, The wild beasts round him ran.

This was the triumph of his tongue,-*— It tamed the heart of man.

Dim through the mist of twilight times

The ghost of Cyrus walks ; Behind him, red with glorious crimes.

The son of Amnion stalks.

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